136 vn 8. WARD ON THE DOUBLE COCOA-NUT 
medicine was made of the kernel, which was said to possess resto- 
rative qualities much in request in those countries where polygamy 
prevails. 
It was not until the discovery of the Seychelles Islands by the 
French in 1742 that authentie inforınation was obtained respect- 
ing the true nature of the tree, and the astonishment of those 
previously acquainted with the Coco de mer may well be imagined 
upon their finding large forests entirely composed of this Palm, 
growing most luxuriantly upon a small and quite uninhabited 
island, and towering far above all ordinary tropical vegetation. 
But little is even now known respecting the growth and pecu- 
liarities of this extraordinary Palm, owing to the great length of 
time it requires to arrive at maturity, and the consequent difficulty 
of obtaining accurate information with regard to its development. 
The information gathered from the inhabitants is not of much 
value; they are very unobservant, and the truth of their re- 
plies to any questions that may be put to them can never be 
depended upon. 
The shortest period before the tree puts forth its buds is thirty 
years, and one hundred years must elapse before it attains its 
full growth. No one can tell how long it will last, or how old 
some of the gigantic specimens may be. No nuts planted since 
the British came into possession have arrived at their full growth. 
One in the garden at Government House, planted fifteen years 
ago, is still quite in its infancy, about sixteen feet in height, but 
with no stem yet visible, the long leaves shooting from the earth 
like the Traveller’s Palm (Urania speciosa), and much resembling 
them in shape, only much larger. Nine months after the nut 
has been planted, supposing germination to have begun at once, 
the leaf sprouts at an angle of 45° from the root ; it is very closely 
folded, with a smooth hard surface, terminating in a sharp point. 
When about two feet above the surface it expands, and nine 
months after another leaf follows, coming up the grooved surface 
of the midrib of that which preceded it, and so on at intervals of 
nine months, each succeeding leaf becoming larger in size. 
these leaves cluster together and support each other, no stem 
appearing above the ground. From the age of fifteen to twenty- 
five the tree is in its greatest beauty, and the leaves at this period 
much larger than they are subsequently. They consist of two 
layers of fibres crossing each other at right angles, imbedded in a 
thick stratum of parenchyma enclosed in a tough skin. 
The stem of the full-grown tree, like that of all Palms, consists, 
